And thus the Lyons Family Nurs- 

 ery was born. 



The family began by using a 

 quarter acre of land, out of their 20 

 acres, to begin propagation. 



"We took hemlock out oi the 

 woods and planted them in the 

 field," said Lyons. "1 learned quickly 

 that if you take it out of the woods 

 and put it in the sun, it will get 

 sunburn." 



Undiscouraged, the Lyons family 

 kept planting more and more. 



When his three children entered 

 their early teens, Lyons could see 

 college bills in the future and de- 

 cided that the nursery would be a 

 perfect venture to cover college ex- 

 penses. The nursery was expanded 

 and two acres were planted with a 

 mixture of things, a majority being 

 dwarf evergreens. 



"He has created a nice niche mar- 

 ket," said Neal. 



Lyons considers the nursery half- 

 way between zones four and five. "It 

 is tempting to try zone five plants 

 to see if I can find a micro-climate 

 where they will live." he said. For 

 his perfect growing mixture, Lyons 

 prefers mixing cow manure into 

 "pure New Hampshire dirt." 



Some of his favorite varieties are 

 the Weeping Norway Spruce (Picea 

 dhies pendnlia); Montgonery Spruce 

 (Picea pungens Montgomery); Hors- 

 ford (Pin us mugo horsford); and 



finally the Gentch White (tusunga 

 Canadensis gentch white). 



As the years have gone on, many 

 of the varieties Lyons has started 

 growing are at customers sugges- 

 tions, in fact most of the flowering 

 shrubs they grow at the nursery 

 have come about that way. All the 

 plants are grown in raised beds and 

 are moved around the nursery every 

 other year to allow for root prun- 

 ing and maintenance of a tight 

 root structure. Most plants are field 

 grown and dug by hand. Lyons does 

 keep a small amount of plants in 

 containers, but tries to sell them be- 

 fore winter so they do not have to 

 be wintered over. 



Lyons has purposely kept his 

 nursery small. He has the luxury of 

 hiring college students to help him 

 dig, but employs no one other than 

 his family. "The nursery is for the 

 homeowner who wants to do his/her 

 own planting." Lyons said. Other 

 gardens on the property allow Lyons' 

 customers to see examples of mature 

 plants and get ideas. The dwarf ev- 

 ergreen demonstration garden is of- 

 ten a source for many a customer's 

 inspiration for their own project. 



As for dwarf evergreens, Lvons 

 has found that what he reads in the 

 catalog is not always true, they are 

 not a cookie cutter plant and have 

 definite personality. He has found 

 his customers like plants with char- 

 acter. "The weirder it is, the more 



likely they are to like it and buy it," 

 he said. "Customers are open and 

 receptive to the idea of dwarf co- 

 nifers because they like the idea of 

 replacing perennials with something 

 that does not have to be weeded." 



Among the advantages of dwarf 

 conifers are their ability to make a 

 garden look full quickly. Their use 

 in landscaping is limited only by the 

 imagination. 



The nursery has met the Lyons' 

 family expectations, all three of the 

 Lyons' children's (and one horse) 

 college tuition bills were covered by 

 the nursery. All three children have 

 since graduated college, but still 

 participate on weekends. And now a 

 third generation of the Lyons family 

 is being introduced to the green in- 

 dustry. 



Lyons Family Nursery is located 

 on Morse Hill Road in Newbury, 

 New Hampshire. It is open to the 

 public two months a year and oth- 

 er times by appointment. Hours: 

 May, Wednesday through Sunday, 

 8:30 A.M. -5 P.M. and June, Wednes- 

 day through Saturday, 8:30 a.m.— 

 5 P.M. For information call 603- 

 938-5398. 



Dwarf Conifers 



Conifer: The name conifer comes from 

 Latin and means "to bear cones". 

 Conifers are usually evergreen trees 

 or shrubs with linear, needle-like or 

 scale like leaves. Dwarf: According to 

 the American Conifer Society, dwarf 

 grows one to six inches per year and 

 its approximate size in 10 years would 

 be one to si.\ feet. 



SPRING 200-1 



23 



